A new workshop "Control Science of Autonomous Systems" was started in April 2017 and is held regularly thereafter (http://www.ipu.ru/smart). It is devoted to a rapidly developing scientific direction in the world where the Institute of Control Sciences must find and take its place. We achieve certain results in this area and we intend to continue research in this direction. We are open to cooperation with researchers from other scientific organizations and industry...

10. Andrey Shevlyakov, Modeling and control of robots in the form of a cube.

11. Aleksei Rozhnov, On the definition of "artificial intelligence" with specification of technical and legal norms and "autonomy" in a functional aspect (in continuation of the discussion on item 9).

12. Viktor Chernov and Gennady Andreev, Evolutionary development of the orbital grouping: experience and specific features of development, maintenance and modernization of problem-oriented software products, hardware and hardware-software systems.

22. A. V. Abdulov, A. N. Abramenkov, V. M. Borodulya, A. A. Shevlyakov, On the successful experience of the participation of the team of the IСS RAS in the open competition of the Foundation for Advanced Studies.

23. Artem Vishnevsky, On the secure processing of confidential information based on completely homomorphic encryption.

24. Aleksei Rozhnov and others, On summarizing the work of the seminar for the 2017 year.

34. «Russia's Approaches to the Elaboration of a Working Definition and Basic Functions of Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems in the Context of the Purposes and Objectives of the Convention» [CCW/GGE.1/2018/WP.6].

35. ...

Content duplication date: 2018.06.18. The actual information is placed starting, first of all, from the main page of our seminar in Russian (always in priority). — URL:http://www.ipu.ru/smart.

Newsletter dedicated exclusively to efforts to prevent the development and use of lethal autonomous weapon systems (LAWS): 82 countries in the United Nations Convention on Conventional Weapons (UN CCW) met again from April 9-13

Here is a brief recap of the meeting's progress:

Earlier this month, the UN CCW Group of Governmental Experts met in Geneva to discuss the future of lethal autonomous weapons systems. Throughout the week, states and civil society representatives discussed "meaningful human control" and whether they should just be concerned about "lethal" autonomous weapons, or all autonomous weapons generally. The group of nations that explicitly endorse the call to ban LAWS expanded to 26 (with China, Austria, Colombia, and Djibouti joining during the CCW meeting). Nearly every nation agreed that it is important to retain human control over autonomous weapons, despite disagreements surrounding the definition of "meaningful human control." However, five states explicitly rejected moving to negotiate new international law on fully autonomous weapons. Throughout the discussion, states focused on complying with International Humanitarian Law (IHL). Human Rights Watch argued that there already is precedent in international law and disarmament law for banning weapons without human control. Although states couldn't reach an agreement during the meeting, momentum is growing towards solidifying a framework for defining lethal autonomous weapons. The UN CCW is slated to resume discussions in August 2018, however, given the speed with which autonomous weaponry is advancing, many advocates worry that they are moving too slowly.

But before we get to that, here's a quick recap of everything that's happened in the last six months:

Since its release in November 2017, the video Slaughterbots has been seen approximately 60 million times and has been featured in hundreds of news articles around the world. The video coincided with the UN CCW Group of Governmental Experts' first meeting in Geneva to discuss a ban on lethal autonomous weapons, as well as the release of open letters from AI researchers in Australia, Canada, Belgium, and other countries urging their heads of state to support an international ban on lethal autonomous weapons.

Over the last two months, autonomous weapons regained the international spotlight. In March, after learning that the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) planned to open an AI weapons lab in collaboration with a major arms company, AI researcher Toby Walsh led an academic boycott of the university. Over 50 of the world’s leading AI and robotics researchers from 30 countries joined the boycott, and in less than a week, KAIST agreed to "not conduct any research activities counter to human dignity including autonomous weapons lacking meaningful human control." The boycott was covered by CNN and The Guardian.

Additionally, over 3,100 Google employees, including dozens of senior engineers, signed a letter in early April protesting the company’s involvement in a Pentagon program called "Project Maven," which uses AI to analyze drone imaging. Employees worried that this technology could be repurposed to also operate drones or launch weapons. Citing their "Don't Be Evil" motto, the employees asked to cancel the project and not to become involved in the "business of war."

Lastly, feel free to write to us with feedback or updates about your own related work or events. – What can you do?...